Regional Magic @ Warren--O'Plaine

I have coached XC for a long time. Between Centennial and ZB, I have coached 29 teams. I cannot tell you how many times I have looked around and thought, "There's no way I will get to coach another team like this." And then today's race happened, specifically, the last mile.

Last year, I was stunned by Brionne's ability to find one more gear in the final 400 to help secure another week of XC for us. And yes, it was a team race--it required everyone else to do their job, but her finish really stood out as a momentum-changing moment. Today? Today, our race today was a full-team effort. 

On the starting line, I could feel the nerves of our seven, but I could also feel the positivity, despite having to erase the glitter from our faces. At the gun, we got out well, and I headed over to the 800 mark to check our progress. Lauren looked strong, but I politely asked her to move up. I did not completely grasp just how fast the Barrington girls had gotten out, and I didn't understand just how deep they are this year (they were 1-7 at the 800!). She was sitting in the mid-teens, and she confidently started making moves down that little hill by the shelter. Fia came by next with Norah just a few clicks back. They looked strong, and I encouraged them to start working on the pack ahead of them, which they did. Jana was next with Rachel, Liv, and Juju pulling along a person back from them. I was excited to see our pack looking so strong, but I could see who was around them: Cary-Grove girls who we needed to beat and Vernon Hills (who were ahead and we needed to beat). Everyone looked strong, though, and I knew they would help each other do work.

I caught everyone again on the treeline coming out of the track. Everyone had done some work, but I knew we were not yet in a good place points-wise. Lauren had Vernon Hills' #1 beat, but only by one place. And Fia and Norah were behind their #2 by several places. Jana was behind VH's 3-5, and I knew that wouldn't work. Liv and Rachel were still working together, but they were behind that VH pack, too. Juju was a touch behind them and looking strong, but I needed her to catch everyone she could! I was nervous at this point. We looked strong, but I kept hearing their coach telling girls to "catch girls with pink sleeves." Heck naw.

I darted to the mini-downhill out of the woods, and everyone had made some moves, but it didn't seem like enough yet. I watched all seven of our bees reach down that hill and use the momentum to make the turn. At this point, Lauren was sitting around 11, Fia had moved to high 20s with Norah so close! She did a great job of fixing the gap and working back to Fia. Jana looked so strong, pressing up to the VH girls and catching one. Liv looked so determined to catch up to Jana, pressing hard with her race face focused. And Rachel was pulling on Liv, looking the most locked in that she has all season. And Juju? She was rocking down the hill, eyes fixed in her race face.

I took a deep breath, willing our bees to press through the stadium, and I headed into the woods. At that point, I repeated the same message to every bee:  "WE. DON'T. HAVE. IT. I need you to catch every person you can!" It felt like last year all over again--Mundelein was running strong, so I didn't think we could catch them. We had to break up VH. What gave me hope was that EVERY SINGLE BEE took my words and made a decision--you all emptied the tank. I saw you each nod and press and fight. As I ran across the infield, screaming my head off, I could see Jana making moves. I could see Liv pulling closer to her. I could see Rachel driving. I could see Juju press. By the time I entered the stadium, I saw Lauren in the final meters. She was ahead of VH's number one by the slimmest of margins! Check! Fia had moved up a ton, but there wasn't enough time left to catch VH's #2. The good news is, there was no one between them anymore, making Fia's score lower. We were in good shape there--check! And Norah? This girl's kick! I don't remember how many she caught, but she ended up RIGHT BEHIND Fia, lowering our score yet again. Check! Jana had made up SO MUCH GROUND. Not only was she ahead of two VH girls, she had almost caught the third and had put Mundelein's #4 behind her. CLUTCH!  Check! And Liv? After the race, she apologized that she couldn't catch the gray jersey of VH's #5, but she had eliminated so many people in between, that the math was mathing for us! She had such a strong last 800! Check! And Rachel? After fighting to feel like herself the last few weeks, she had the race of her season, catching Mundelein's #5 in the last 800. That "pass" put the Mundelein runner into a defeated mode, and she fell back a few spots, making their score rise. As Lauren pointed out, Rachel's focused effort as our #6 mattered--she was able to push up Mundelein's score by putting space between the two of them. Check! And Juju? She pushed so hard that her stomach revolted in the final turn. She was undeterred, though--she wiped her face, recentered herself, and kicked like mad into the chute. Check!

The outcome? Just as I predicted in my letter:  perfect because ALL SEVEN of you were not afraid to take a risk and give everything at the end of the race for each other. You found an extra gear and extra ounce of energy and grit for each other. When Juju cleared the chute, I pulled up Athletic Live to see 5th next to our name. It brought tears to my eyes because you earned another chance at a race. While times don't matter during this time of year, there are some cool stats to report: Everyone was super close to their PRs from Lake Forest, a course that is slightly short like ours. Jana earned a new LPR by 26 seconds! And Liv? She dropped 10 seconds from LF for a new LPR, too! And Rachel? It's no surprise that she ran a SPR by 33 seconds! As a team, we beat our seed by one spot, putting away Mundelein by 4 points after they beat us just the week before by 14. We were only 17 points behind Libertyville and Warren, the closest we have been all season in big races. And Vernon Hills? I am not mathy enough to say what the score was with 800 to go, but I know we did not have them. We ended the race 13 points ahead of them. The energy at the tent? Beautiful. The energy you put into the guys for their race? Perfect! And the energy on the bus? Outstanding!

I want to give a special shout out to Sheila for all of her help getting our last minute water cooler, grabbing gear from the finish line, and pouring her love into our girls throughout the day. I want to give Eva a special shout out for her calm demeanor pre-race and big voice during. She was so encouraging to help our girls believe. And I'd love to give a special shout out to Cici for her energy all day. She had that "old soul" wisdom about her--that calming presence that helped keep the jitters to a minimum. And then she unleashed her loud side during the race with Eva, cheering on our bees with all her heart!  These three brought me joy as soon as I saw them in the South Commons before we boarded the bus, and they brought me joy all day, too!

I also want to give a shout out to April, Janelley, Alex, and Arwen for practicing with our seven all week. They knew it was unlikely they would race today, but they gave their energy all week, taking workouts seriously and pushing our girls along. They embraced the park and the pancakes and the point of the week:  bee linked so that they can learn and grow as runners. Thank you for your goofiness and light energy and positivity. When you put good into the world, it will come back to you! I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I can already see how all seven of you will look on the team with a year of wisdom in your lives next fall. 

Speaking of beeing linked, thank you to our alums who sent messages of love and wisdom to our team:  Kelsey, Katelin, Illy, Liz, Brionne, Riley, and Estrella--thank you for taking time from your new chapters of your lives to link back to this year's team! Your wise words were helpful to get everyone locked in on our short ride to Warren! Thank you to alum Taylor Lindblad who came out to support our bees in person. She is a 2012 grad and was instrumental in helping us qualify in 2011 for her senior season. She knows what it is like to have the season end with the regional (junior year), and the elation of getting an extra week of racing with her team (senior year), so she knows how special today was! Alums--I appreciate you all more than you know! <3

Let's enjoy this free week together. Let's make more memories and sit in the moment of what we accomplished. Back in 2019, we dared to dream that we could break our drought of qualifying as a team; we had not sent a full team since 2011, and we were tired of that six-year-old fact. Now we are on year five of a new streak--of defining ourselves as teams who don't shy away from dreaming big and racing big. To be clear, those drought teams worked hard, but they didn't put together the mental side of racing the way you all have. Trust that I know that the mental side is not easy. It requires faith in yourself and faith in your teammates. It takes time and there are bumps in the road. But you all committed to overcoming those bumps. You all committed to working on the little things so that we could do big things. Let's keep it going! 

SO incredibly proud to be your coach! 

PS--If you haven't joined our FB page, you should. Jay's dad Mr. Davis has posted some outstanding pictures all season. He captured some great shots from our race. Go look at Zion Benton Cross Country and Distance Crew! Special thank you to him for documenting so many cool moments this season and the last four seasons!